tom brown tracker mini

[Dan1982]

Are these knives useful or useless??

for some bizarre reason i am quite temped to get one! i'm really not sure why. i really like the cross draw sheath and the fact that it is smaller than the tracker but not really sure what i'd use it for.

Does it have any uses?

Dan

 

[Bushcraft4life]

Even the ''mini'' is about as big as a small baseball bat

 

[Dan1982]

i was just thinking of something quite heavy duty that i could hide away quite easily but didn't mind abusing.

i know alot of you hate them but i am strangely drawn to the blade shape also, although i imagine tricky to sharpen??

 

[Bushcraft4life]

i was just thinking of something quite heavy duty that i could hide away quite easily but didn't mind abusing.

i know alot of you hate them but i am strangely drawn to the blade shape also, although i imagine tricky to sharpen??

What with several different blade types all on one blade, yes i should imagine so

They are extremely expensive for what they are, which imo is a sharp battering ram, money could be well spent on something of better quality, usefulness in Bushcraft and better looking.

If you find something a knife can't do, use an Axe, something an Axe can't do, use a saw, if all three can't do it its not worth doing

Don't buy something that tries to do all three.

 

[Dan1982]

i actually already own a paul harris bushy, a gransfors sfa and a mora clipper. the reason i am interested is BECAUSE it does alot of different jobs its not always convenient to carry an axe! i also would be happy to give it a fair bit of rough treatment.

anybody actually own one?

 

[Bushcraft4life]

I think one person on here in the UK, has the standard.

I was offered the standard (or mini) in a trade, don't get me wrong, i was also tempted by this moster and it actually has good reviews.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Having posted at length in other threads about my impression of the full size TOPS Tracker (a sharpened club with pretentions to being a Klingon goblin cleaver) I must put my hands up to being slightly more impressed with the mini version.

In one of the previous threads this link was posted, no English, but the pictures are very informative.
http://www.survival.hu/mambo/content/view/86/125/
As you can see, the knife being used in the latter part of the review has been worked on significantly, the bevels have really been re-ground to provide workable edge geometry. Lupus says he has a similarly reworked full size Tracker and given how much wood work he does I don't doubt but that he is able to use it.

The problem I have, even with the smaller version, is that it tries to do too many things. Some it does very poorly, like that pointless saw back which is detrimental to its use as a knife. There might be merit to the shape, but you would have to lose the saw and have a re-ground edge for it to start being worth the trade offs. I am considering having a bash at making one just to see how it works, but it hasn't even made it to paper yet.

 

[Dan1982]

thanks for the link. wish i knew what they were saying about it though

i actually think the knife looks pretty good with the re-profiled edge

hmmmm.... wonder if anybody on here could regrind one for me??


or make me a knife based around the tracker mini?

could ba a different little project for someone?

Dan

 

[sandbender]

thanks for the link. wish i knew what they were saying about it though

My very basic grasp of Hungarian suggests that he quite likes it...

Check out this BCUK thread for more info and links...

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18328

 

[Giguere]

Tom brown designed it, and uses it himself, so we know someone can make due with it. :O I suggest purchasing the scout with it aswell. I plan on getting the Mini tracker, and the scout. Both with Hedgehog leatherworks leather sheaths. The Tracker in "Scout Style" in the small of my back, and the scout in vertical carry on the right side of my belt.

 

[sandbender]

Both with Hedgehog leatherworks leather sheaths. The Tracker in "Scout Style" in the small of my back, and the scout in vertical carry on the right side of my belt.

That sounds kind of awkward as a carry method, especially in the bush?

Nice looking sheaths though, much nicer than the plastic ones they appear to come with.

I still think that the tracker looks like something an orc would use...